Monsters Within
by TrueKelpa
Summary: Becoming Human! Both Adam and Christa are struggling with the darker sides of themselves. One-shot, rated for language.


***This little one-shot is dedicated to all the awesome people on the Becoming Human blog, love you all! Enjoy!***

**Christa**

Christa stared out of the window. She was restless, and double science did nothing to occupy her attention. It was less than three days to the full moon, and she was getting jumpy. Adam was sitting to her left, shooting glances at her. He thought she hadn't noticed, but she had, and it annoyed her immensely. Her gaze kept flickering upwards, towards the sky. The sun was out, and she couldn't see the moon, but she knew it was there, waiting. Like the wolf. Like her.

Adam glanced at her again, and her head whipped around to meet his gaze. He looked startled, and she growled under her breath. He flinched. She gritted her teeth. What was wrong with her? Sure, she was grumpy, but right now she was resisting the urge to break the stupid vampire's neck. She didn't care that it probably wouldn't kill him, she just wanted to wipe the knowing smirk from his face. Sure, she never saw it, but she knew it appeared as soon as she looked away from him. He was so damn smug! So glad that she had to face up to her 'condition', after denying it all this time. Bloody vampire.

She resisted the urge to laugh at that. What was it with these mood swings? But still... Bloody. Vampire. It was pretty funny. A small giggle escaped her lips, and Adam stared at her. Her previous annoyance returned. It wasn't funny! Why was she laughing?

Unable to take it anymore, she stood up, heading for the door.

"Excuse me Christa, where are you going?" asked Mr Roe politely, his voice shaking slightly. She whipped to face him and snarled.

"I feel like crap, ok? Happy now? Just get over it and leave me the hell alone!"

With that, she stormed out of the room, leaving a very shellshocked Mr Roe behind her.

"I'll, uhhm, see if she's ok..." said Adam, hastening to follow Christa. A wolf whistle echoed out of the room behind him as he left, but for once, he didn't smirk. He sped up jogging down the corridor after the girl.

"Piss off!" she yelled, spinning to face him. He skidded to a halt to avoid barrelling into her.

"Christa, what the-"

"I said piss off!" she screeched. "Go and kill someone, whatever! That's what you do, isn't it? I don't care, as long as you are seriously far away from me!"

He took a step backwards, feeling as if she had slapped him. This wasn't like her. She was sarcastic, sure, and downright irritable, but never this... cruel.

"Jesus Christa, I was just trying to hel-"

"Well you can't!" She spat. "No one can! Just get away from me!"

He ignored her screams, and moved towards her. Her hands clenched into fists and she gritted her teeth.

"Fur fuck's sake, Adam" she hissed, but she was no longer shouting. "You don't get it, do you? You have no idea."

He continued to move closer, close enough to touch, and her eyes narrowed.

"No idea about what?" he asked quietly. She smirked, and he could sense a sudden shift. This was not Christa. This was someone... else.

She took a step forward now, bringing them close, their chests an inch from eachother. She leaned in, and whispered into his ear, making him suppress a shiver.

"No idea just how much I want you... dead" she murmured.

He took an involuntary step back at her words, staring at her. Her eyes were different, with an odd hint of lupine yellow lingering in them.

"It's soon, isn't it?" he whispered.

She blinked, and her eyes flickered back to normal. She looked away from him, staring at the wall.

"When?" he asked, when she did not answer.

"The full moon... it's the day after tomorrow" she muttered. She wasn't confirming what she was, she reasoned. Just... telling him a date. A fact. No ridiculous supernatural speculation, just clear cut facts.

He took another step forwards.

"Can you not take a hint?" she snapped, exasperated. He smirked and shook his head. "You are so... annoying!"

His grin widened.

"Call me whatever you want. I'm not going anywhere. Unless you're coming with me, of course."

"You seriously need to work on your chat up lines"

"I've got an eternity to practice" he shrugged. She scowled. "What?" he asked, confused.

"How can you be so... open about it?" she asked, almost desperately.

"It's what I am. _What_ I am, not _who_ I am. I'm gonna be like this for a long time, so I may as well make the best of it."

"That's either really deep and meaningful, or really naive." She muttered.

"I'm sorry, shall I go back to being a sex pest?" he grinned.

"At least I know how to handle that."

"With sarcasm and witty comebacks, yeah I noticed"

She sank down onto a metal bench a few feet away, and he joined her. They sat like that for a while, in a comfortable silence, before the bell rang.

**Adam**

"Ready for a fun-filled lesson of English Lit?" asked Adam in mock enthusiasm.

"Oh I can't wait" Christa drawled sarcastically.

"On the up side, you sit next to me" he winked. She rolled her eyes.

They walked to the class together, taking their seats at the back of the room. The teacher walked in a short time later, sitting at the front of the room and taking a pile of books from her bag, passing them to a nearby student to hand them out. A book was passed to Adam. He took one glance at the cover, and a look of disbelief came over his features.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." He groaned.

Curious, Christa took the book from him, and almost laughed at the picture on the front. It showed a pale man, with slicked back, black hair, dark eyes, and sharp, pointed, teeth. He was wearing a black and red cape, which matched the colours of the title. _Dracula, by Bram Stoker._

She handed the book back to him, suppressing giggles at the look on his face.

"Ok then class!" called the teacher from the front. "As you may have guessed, we are starting our new book, _Dracula_ today! Now, to begin, what preconceptions do you have about vampires?" she asked, looking around. A few hands rose into the air.

"They sparkle in the sun!" called a girl in the front row. Christa bit her lip to keep from laughing as Adam gritted his teeth.

"Let's... aah... steer ourselves away from the more modern ideas, and keep to the basics." Smiled the teacher. "Adam, what about you?"

"What about me?" asked Adam, his head whipping up, eyes wide.

"What do you know about vampires?"

"Oh... hardly anything, to be honest..."

"Come on, you must have some idea?"

"Umm... well..." a small smirk twitched the corners of his mouth. "They're fit."

Christa sighed dramatically.

"Ok, let's get a discussion going" said the teacher. "Christa, you disagree?"

"Yes. Yes I do." She tried to hide her smile, but Adam could still see it.

"Aaw, come on!" he said. "I bet if you knew a vampire, you would _so_ want him." He was grinning now.

"Hardly." She smirked, looking directly at him. "Not my type."

"Liar" he cried. "You'd jump him first chance you got."

"Trust me." She said sweetly. "If I jumped a vampire, I would be holding a stake."

"Oh really" he grinned. "So you like it rough?"

Her mouth fell open.

"No, I... that's not what I meant."

He continued to grin, as the teacher calmed the class, who were now in hysterics. She scowled at him, which just made him grin wider.

"Now seriously" called the teacher loudly, over the din of the class. She turned to Adam. "If vampires existed, it is very likely that they would tear your neck open before you had the chance to, as you put it, 'jump them'"

Adam slumped back into his seat, scowling. He muttered profanities under his breath as the teacher looked away.

"-tear _your_ neck open if you're not careful-"

Christa tapped him with her foot.

"What have I told you about killing the teachers?" she whispered with mock severity.

"Surely they won't miss one" he retorted. His tone was joking, but his eyes flashed black with need.

"You can't just kill everyone who pisses you off" she said, only half joking.

"No, you're right. Matt's already dead."

"Adam!"

"What, Christa? Everyone seems to think I'm a monster anyway, so why not just prove it?"

"Because you're better than that!"

"You don't know that. You don't know what I've done."

His voice was so earnest that she did not question him. She didn't want to know.

"Adam!" the teacher called. "Will you read Mina's monologue please?"

"Yes miss" he replied dully, and began to read.

"But you must remember that I am not as you are. There is a poison in my blood, in my soul, which may destroy me, which must destroy me, unless some relief comes to us. Oh, my friends, you know as well as I do, that my soul is at stake. And though I know there is one way out for me, you must not and I must not take it"

He looked up, his eyes pained.

"Very well read." She approved. "You really understand the character. What conclusions you draw from that piece of speech, Adam?"

"Well" he began "Mina is turning into a vampire, and believes that she will eventually succumb to it and turn truly evil. She is trying to convince the men to... to stake her... when the time comes. Before her soul is lost forever." He trailed off.

"Excellent character analysis, well done" said the teacher, moving on.

Christa stared at him. A small smile touched his lips as he looked at her.

"Still think I'm naive?" he asked. She didn't reply. He sighed. "You're not the only one struggling."


End file.
